The Season is in full swing. PWLV is almost full up. We have Bryan-Metcalf Perez and Casey Hauser in the house along with Jay Watermier from the Gorge. A strong Norte blew in two days ago and it is still firing. Today we are going to have the biggest LV Race Series slalom event yet with the wind filled in by 12:00.

Going to bring you some photos from the races a little later.

We also finally got some shots of the new kid on the block FreedyP. We haven't figured out his last name yet so we are calling him Freddy P like the rapper. Kid has the best attitude ever and each day he is getting a little less shy. Sent him out yesterday on a brand new Naish Session 4.0 and despite the fact that he probably could have been on a 2.7 the kid was busting jumps and helitacking all over the place. We got a new one under the wing and with his skill and our coaching we are going to have to got a lot more shots of the guy. So stay tuned.

Plus we still have plenty of openings for Jan and Feb which are the best months for wind. Come on down.

Tyson is becoming a novelist I am gonna have to split this post in two.

We just finished one more set of races before the holidays and they turned out really well. This time, we had some really good competition, including Bryan Metcalf-Perez, Casey Hauser, Jay Watermayer, and a couple more fast sailors, to go along with the usual crowd. Started off the day not looking too windy, but in great La Ventana style, the wind filled in to a nice 7.0, 7.8 breeze. Couldn't have asked for better conditions.

Race director Neil Foley has been setting up the courses perfect, allowing the kites to hit the boat on the start and use their deep down wind speed to gain an advantage, but also letting the windsurfers hit the pin with good speed across the wind. Couldn't have had a more even start line. Along with the good start, the reaches were nice and long, making for some epic battles for position. Every race was one to watch.

The first race was great! We all lined up pretty even on the start, with the windsurfers at the pin and the kites at the boat. Adam Withington (kiter) was blasting off the start, coming down on the fleet and getting to the mark in first place. All of us windsurfers were 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th at the first mark. This really meant that we were going to need to turn it on to catch Adam in the lead. I was starting to gain on him by the second mark, and ended up being right on his tail by the time we were jibing. On the third reach, all I could hear in my head was Wyatt saying "You better not lose to any of those kiters or you are sleeping outside for a loooooooong time!" I wasn't fully blasting because the wind had dropped a bit for that race, so I had to do everything I could to pull out as much speed as possible. By the time we hit the third mark, I had caught him upwind, allowing me to jibe at the same time as him and cut him inside to have a drag race to the next mark. Caught a good gust coming out of that mark and put the peddle down to pull away and put at least a 3 board length lead before the last jibe. Didn't look back after that and took the bullet in the first race.

Second race went a lot better for all the windsurfers. We realized that mid line was the place to start for all of us, making it to the first mark 1st - 5th for the windsurfers. There were a couple changes in position, but not very many, putting the windsurfers in front of the kiters the whole way.

The third race was the most interesting of all, with lots of place changes, people over early, and sailors colliding. As we are pulling up to the start line, it seemed like all the kites were barging at the line, blocking the whole start pretty well. I was late to the start, having to dive really low on the line to get some clean wind. There were two kiters and one windsurfer over the line early, making for an interesting race to the first mark. As we were flying to the mark, I was busy yelling at the kiters who were over early to get off the course, haha. The windsurfer turned around and rounded the start line a second time, to nullify his over early. By the time we were getting to the first mark, I had just caught and passed the kiter in first place, but by only about a foot. As i jibed in front of him, his lines clipped the top of my sail (see pic of me looking up at the top of my sail), almost putting me into the water, but bringing me to a slow turn. By the time I recovered, the kiter had picked up speed and I had to catch him again. This time I got him before the next buoy, making the jibe a bit safer. Things didn't go as well for the guys behind me. Casey told me that he slammed the kiter in the face with his sail. I guess as they were jibing, the kiter jumped up to transition on his heel side, just as Casey was laying the sail down for his jibe. Casey ended up knocking him over and taking the next position. As they all got to the next mark, the same kiter ended up running into the ankles of Jay Watermayer, and crashing again. Adam Withington decided to stay back in the pack to save his kite gear. I guess the racing lines are very sensitive and can break easily. After the race, there was a lot of talk during the break about what was going on. Who was over early, who wasn't, who hit who. But in the end there were no hard feelings and everyone was ready to roll for another 3 races.

After the break, the 4th race ended up being the hardest for me. Once again, I had a serious battle between my training buddy and good friend, Casey Hauser. Hit it the start on point and was blasting to the first mark. I was a bit late and had to make up some serious time. He hit the jibe first, and I was right on his tail. I was able to make up some distance between him and I on the next reach, only putting one board length between him and I on the second mark. This is where I took a bit of a gamble and decided to take the jibe low and try to come underneath Casey and get some clean wind to the next mark. If he had caught me one second earlier, he could have dove down and covered me pretty easily, but I managed to just get enough speed up to pull even with him on the reach. We hit the third mark at the same time, with Casey a bit more upwind of me and trying to cut inside. I managed to throw enough spray (unintentionally) into his sail on my jibe, that it threw him off balance, making him take the jibe a bit wider than he wanted. I was able to pull ahead and hold the lead till the finish line. Breathing pretty hard after that one.

For me the last two races went pretty similar. I hit the line with really good speed and right on time, making it to the mark in first and not looking back. This was by far the most fun race day we have had yet. Lots of energy and a good amount of racers and great talent! Looking forward to another one after the holidays! See you guys on the water!

There have been way too many fun things going on down here that we are weeks and weeks behind on our reports on good times. I will have to back log here a while…..
January 10th -15th saw the 3rd annual Lord of the Wind Baja competition in Los Barilles. The wind cranked for all 3 days of competition with solid overhead swell for the freestyle comp on Saturday. The Rotary Club of Los Barilles did a great job again putting on the event with food, tequila tasting, pig roasts, parties and of course lots of sailing. Tyson got bullets in pretty much every race he sailed in, walking away with 1st place in Slalom and Course Racing. When it came time for the Freestyle Comp is was cranking I rigged 5.0 and the rest of the boys rigged 4.2, I was a bit overpowered but it worked out Bryan got 1st, I got 2nd and Tyson got 3rd. Partied pretty hard at the closing ceremonies and then headed back to LV the next morning and that was the start of 17 days straight of 5.0 or better.

So we got back form the Lord of the Wind comp in Los Barilles on Monday a bit hungover from the award ceremony party and by the evening the trees were shaking in an unusual way. Woke up crack of dawn on Sunday freaking out that our boat on the beach was probably drifting out to sea because the sound of crashing waves was a lot noisier than normal. Ran down to the gear sheds just as the waves were starting to flow over the beach and into the little arroyo that houses our gear. Ran back up the path for help and got back down to the gear sheds just in time to roll the carpets back, while tyson brought the quad with the winch to pull the boat that had been getting smacked by waves up onto the dunes. Then we all headed up to Pablos for breakfast after a quick look at the couch to make sure it was not floating away. 8:30 breakfast at Pablos where we watched 9 windsurfers ripping it up in head high waves with not a kiter in sight.

Then we went and rigged gear at the couch to sail the generals. Bryan had been calling all morning to try and get us to drive to Los Barilles and then an hour south to go to Punta Colorado which albeit is a great spot on a Norte but why drive 2 hrs for a maybe when it was absolutely firing right in front of us. I rigged 4.4 Boxer and 80L Koncept while Casey and Tyson rigged their 4.2s. I hit the water and immediately had to jump in and outhaul my sail all the way. The wind was howling with gusts coming through that were so strong I was blowing my jibes.

We sailed until our hands bled boosting huge airs and getting down the line waverides on Starboard. A few times we would pass each and laugh screaming "This sucks we should have driven 2 hours to Punta Colorado...ahahahahahah"

Basically it was the most epic session of the season.

Later that night we sent Bryan a photo of Tysons biggest Backloop and he send one over of him at Punta Colorado....you guys can decide which is better.

February ROCKS!!!!!!! Its getting warmer, we are back down to wearing shorties or boardies town is clearing out and the wind and waves are still firing. Last week we had a killer Norte that pumped in with solid swell. One of our Guests Francois was ripping up at the generals with Tyson throwing insane tweaked table tops. Tyson was clearing kiters and pelicans stomping one handed back loops all day. I even saw him get a couple down the line aerials on 4 bottom turn waves.

The top two months down here really are January and February, gotta say that Feb is my favorite, warm strong winds and tons of space.

We had a solid day yesterday, today is dead flat perfect for SUPing and fishing, tomorrow looks like it is gonna rock and then just build thru thursday.

Viva Mexico!!!!!!!

Its not too late for a February vacation shoot us an email we have space!!!

Oh ya and if the forecast does not impress you must know that 9-10 mph in the forecast means 5.0 and 100L for my 200lb self. Oh ya its that good.

Oh Man! The wind here is great but it is really all the non-wind activities that make this spot amazing. You are not gonna believe this.

So after ripping on 4.4 the bay was flat the following day so some friends and I decided to take the boat to the island for some fishin....er drinking.

On the way over we almost hit a 6 foot manta ray. We spooked it and it reached one of its wings up and hit our fishing pole in the rod holder like 2 feet above the boat, soaking the girl next to it and me. That was pretty wild especially since there were more all around us with their wing tips sticking out of the water.

We got to the island killed the motor, pulled out the big vat of guacamole, cracked some beers and started chowing. Just when you though things could not get better I pulled out the mini-speakers and we were grooving.

Just then Sara pointed out to see and said "WHATS THAT", we all looked and stood dumbfounded for a minute and then all agreed that it was a 200 yard long line of hundreds and hundreds of dolphins heading right for us.

We quickly put the guac away and headed for them. We did about 4 laps alongside them and they rode the bow wake and the wake behind us for miles.

It was glassy flat and we all had the hugest smiles when I said "Well we have the skim board and the dolphins are loving us ..we kinda have to wake surf with them dont we?"

Rachael jumped in the water first and we headed along side them. From previous passes we figured out that they liked it best when we went as slow as possible so they could ride the wake behind.

Well can't really put it in words so check the photos and check the video link here:

Well I know its summer but I just got back to checking on the report and it seems we got lost in all the dolphin surfing and packing and forgot a couple key finds and stories.

First Punta Marquez. If you look back at the beginning of the story you see that we first went to Punta Marquez to watch the Baja 1000 roar through in November. We surfed some small waves in just our trunks but didn't quite realize how close it was to LV at that point having taken a long route in.

Later in February we wen't back with some err kiter friends, who had been there a bunch and thus new a better way in. We camped a few times for 2-3 days and found out it is really only 60 minutes from La Paz all the way to the beach in Marquez making it really only 1.5 hours from our door in LV. Thus making it totally doable for a day trip (if one got on it early) or an over nighted.

Marquez is a totally deserted point break ending in a long beach. The waves are a lot stronger than San Carlos definitely not as forgiving but since you get to pinch up towards the rock shelf at the point and then wavesail down wave to the long beach it is pretty safe, though you don't want to eat it right on the beach. We SUPed, surfed, and Sailed perfect pealing rights totally by ourselves every day we were there. The water is also really warm, we just used 3/2 short sleeves and probably could have used shorties the whole time. The real sweet thing is that much of the time there is a strong NW blowing on the pacific coast even when it is not so windy in LV, i.e.. you don't have to go there when there is a huge Norte blowing in LV. The Nortes and NW on the Pacific are not the same thing.

Somehow we failed to get good photos of the on water action since it was so good no body wanted to sit on the beach and film. We did get some good shots of the camping, the break and riding motos down the endless sandy beaches.

Anyways the place is a total blast you can cruise out for the day or pack motos and camping gear and have the perfect break with long clean waves all to yourself. We will definitely be going back much more frequently next season.

The awesomeness of LV plus 1.5 hrs to endless waves and sideshore wind. How does PWLV get any better???

With all this rain up here in the gorge, i have been doing a lot of daydreaming about the days at Marquez. Blastin the motos up and down the beach, surfing every morning, bonfires, ballenas, SUP, and some windsurfing. Looking forward to getting back there!!! Cant wait!

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